All articles by Ruth Thorlby
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CommentGetting a same-day GP appointment in the UK is relatively easy
A survey of around 19,000 adults over the age of 65 in 2021 asked about their health and care, including how the pandemic had affected their access to services in 11 countries. For the UK, the results are mixed.
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CommentBig promises from Labour and Lib Dems, but little detail
The pledges of the two main opposition parties prompt as many questions as they provide answers, writes Ruth Thorlby
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CommentThe Mirror Mirror report prompts some hard reflections
Comparisons of health outcomes around the world are difficult to achieve but increasingly important, argues Ruth Thorlby
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Ruth Thorlby on justice for all
As Barack Obama begins his first term as president, many US minorities will be watching to see what action he takes to improve healthcare.
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Ruth Thorlby on the price of healthcare in the US
For a new arrival to the US, embarking on the Health Foundation's Harkness Fellowship in New York, it is hard to take in the full litany of facts about the 46 million Americans with no health insurance.
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HSJ Knowledge
Data collection: Big Brother isn't watching you
Health information has not kept pace with population change. Ruth Thorlby and Veena Raleigh look at efforts to improve collection
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HSJ KnowledgeA glance towards the next 60 years of the NHS
Looking back over the past 60 years reminds us of some familiar debates in the NHS: concerns about financial sustainability, wastefulness, and rationing of resources are all familiar issues today.
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HSJ KnowledgeMaternity services at 60: the birth of a new era
For pregnant women, the birth of the NHS meant the family doctor’s advice could be sought freely without incurring expense, according to the 1949 Ministry of Health report.
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HSJ Knowledge
Waiting times are just so... 1950s
As waiting times hit an all-time low in the NHS, anecdotal evidence suggests a need to revise the view that waiting continues to be a substitute for prices as a rationing mechanism.
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HSJ Knowledge
How to score public accountability points
Primary care trusts must start to come under local public accountability, argue Richard Lewis and Ruth Thorlby
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HSJ Knowledge
1948: creation of a new workforce
In 1948 the NHS opened its collective doors to be faced not only with an inherited waiting list of around half a million patients and a clamour for spectacles and false teeth, but also an almost immediate staff shortage.
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HSJ Knowledge
Why NHS budgets have always been a bugbear
Setting the first NHS budget in 1948 was no easy task. The Beveridge report, the 1942 blueprint for the welfare state, suggested £130m.
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HSJ Knowledge
60 years of eating and smoking
It was in the 'ninth year of austerity' - with the end of full rationing still six years away - that the NHS came into existence on 5 July 1948. The chief medical officer, reporting on the state of the public's health, declared the NHS had begun 'its colossal task' ...
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HSJ Knowledge
Recalling the offer of choice
The government revealed the results of its£11million GP access survey last month and promised ‘immediate action’ to rectify the areas of underperformance, particularly the poorer access reported by patients in poorer areas; ‘improvement teams’ are being dispatched.Another part of the access survey concerned patient choice. The survey asked patients whether ...